Newswire

Latest news on city living

Best to invest

Yorkshire is still a prime target for foreign investors, despite the current turmoil in the global markets. The UKTI (UK Trade and Investment) have revealed figures which show that the region accepted 124 inward investment projects over the last year.

Yorkshire Forward, the development agency responsible for 57 of these investments, said that they have attracted more than £320m for the region, creating over 1,100 jobs. Many of these investments were expansions of existing operations, while the US and Europe remain the key motivators behind foreign investment in the region.

"Over 40% of the region's largest companies are foreign owned," says Theresa Lindsay, Yorkshire Forward's head of marketing. "So winning increasing levels of expansion projects against stiff international competition, particularly in the current economic climate, is a real endorsement of the strength of our regional economy and our investor development programme."

City Lofts in Trouble

Harrogate-based developers City Lofts are calling in the administrators after a number of their properties in the Yorkshire area have remained unsold. City Lofts have around 250 unsold properties across Yorkshire, including some at Roberts Wharf in Leeds.

The apartment developer will quit its ongoing developments, which brings into doubt the future of their major project, St. Paul's Place in Sheffield.

However, a number of City Lofts' subsidiary companies will continue to trade with the intention of finishing their current projects.

A statement from Ernst & Young, who have been appointed as City Lofts' administrators, said: "It is anticipated that the administrators will review the position of the two holding companies with the intention that the group's current individual developments under construction -- other than those in respect of which LPA (Law of Property Act 1925) receivers have already been appointed -- should be able to continue unaffected so that value is maintained in the wider group."

The statement added: "The individual operating companies that are carrying out the group's current developments have not been placed into administration." Roberts Wharf is located on the banks of the River Aire and provides 198 luxury loft-style apartments.

Water Success

Leeds' first one day Waterfront festival was a great success, according to Leeds Civic Trust, who say that around 3000 people turned up to Brewery Wharf in June to take part in their summer events.

Brewery Wharf was filled with market stalls, street theatre, live bands, river cruises and a number of other attractions. The event has been praised for its great community spirit, but director Kevin Grady says that there are still issues that could be improved on for next year.

"Some visitors might have expected a much bigger event,"said Grady. "But having seen the potential many more people are likely to come on board for next year, with a bigger and longer event." Watch this space.